The DWP subsequently contacted Glasgow City Council, who stopped Paul’s housing and council tax benefits.

Again, the cut was backdated, so he was already in arrears with his rent.

Paul was hounded over his housing benefit

Paul’s body was found in his Glasgow flat in January. It’s thought he had been dead for two months.

The letter from the council notifying him of the “error” and saying his benefits werebeing reinstated was dated November 19 – so it may have arrived just days after he killed himself.

Eleanor, from Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, said: “Something needs to be done.

“The Conservative Government aren’t living in the real world and have no idea how people live.

“They don’t care about working-class people and the vulnerable.

Paul Donnachie

“Innocent people’s lives are being put at risk and those in Westminster are pushing people like Paul to take their own lives.

“They should recognise that and do something about it.”

Paul didn’t know where to turn after his benefits were stopped.

In September, as he struggled to cope with no income, he applied to Glasgow City Council for a Scottish Welfare Crisis Grant to pay for gas, electricity and food.

But his application was rejected and he was advised that if he wanted to eat, he should go to a food bank.

Even in death, Paul was robbed of any final dignity.

Eleanor Donnachie

The council letter informed him he had to reply within 14 days to have his housingbenefit reinstated.

Because he failed to do that, his arrears continued to build. His body was found when the council came to evict him.

After his death, the authorities continue to hound him. One letter demanded £3002.72 that he owed in council tax arrears.

Eleanor, who is calling for an inquiry into the scandal, said: “It says it all that they only discovered he was dead when they came to evict him.”

Tommy Sheridan, of the Solidarity Party, has been assisting Paul’s family and backed their calls for a public inquiry into the tragedy.

He said Paul is one of around 900 people who have died as a result of Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith’s brutal DWP regime.

Sheridan added: “This is bullying and harassment. It’s Tory cruelty.

“The DWP and IDS should be held responsible for this man’s death and hundreds of others.

“People have taken their own lives because of the stress and pressure of being sanctioned over their benefits – only for it to be discovered after death that there were mistakes.

“Paul’s benefits were cut. It was a mistake – they even admitted that. He was vulnerable, had mental health illness and was treated disgracefully.

“Millionaire tax-dodgers get knighthoods and vulnerable benefits recipients get bullied.

“This is the Tories declaring war on working-class people and it is despicable.

“Paul’s sister Eleanor is calling for a public enquiry and I fully support it.”

The DWP and Glasgow City Council said they were unable to discuss specific details ofPaul’s case.

However, a DWP spokesman said: “Suicide is a tragic and complex issue, so to link a death to someone’s benefit claim is misleading. We are fully committed to ensuring that people who are too sick to work get the support they need.”

A council spokesman said: “Housing benefit is a Government scheme that is administered by local authorities in accordance with DWP guidance.”

In November, a study from Oxford and Liverpool universities linked the DWP’s hated “fit for work” assessments to 590 suicides in England alone.

But Prime Minister David Cameron and his sidekicks Duncan Smith and Chancellor George Osborne refuse to admit the devastating effects their welfare cuts are having on the most vulnerable in society.

Tory axewoman Priti Patel wants to stop the Scottish Parliament getting powers to take over benefits.

The Employment Minister claimed it was “completely wrong” to link benefit sanctions to suicides.

If you are having suicidal thoughts, you can call Samaritans in the UK on 116 123.